L'art de séduire

This little made for TV movie was based on an article in Allure Magazine, February 1999, by Amanda Vaill "Rated X -Sex Lessons of a Paris Madam. I highly recommend the movie as it is very informative of how to deal with the collapse of a marriage and how to keep a relationship alive no matter your age. It is fun, insightful and intriguing. Both Linda Hamilton as the jilted wife, and Jacqueline Bisset as Madam Simone prove they are brilliant method actors. I remember seeing this movie when it first came out, now years later watching it again it reminds me that making the little parts of life enjoyable is important in a relationship, a fact so many forget in their busy day to day lives.

I was shocked that this movie was on Lifetime television. It was a wonderful movie that I feel could have been a strong theatrical release. The writing is superb, the acting first rate, and the beauty of Paris explodes from the screen.

The most obvious strength of this movie is the casting of Jacqueline Bisset and Linda Hamilton in the leading roles. Both are excellent actors and their on-screen chemistry is wonderful to behold. Hamilton plays a modern American woman who has success, but has no passion in her life. This movie is about her first discovery of that passion. Bisset is the worldly woman who knows everything about love except how to achieve it for herself. What is fascinating about this movie is that they teach each other, in ways you would not expect at all.

The script is positively brilliant. You'll find that you recall scenes from this movie for years to come. I particularly liked the "teddy" and the "wine tasting". You'll see what I'm talking about if you watch the film. The script sets up intense moments, then brings them back to Earth gently. It's a perfect mix of sensuality (not sex!) and light comedy. Both of the lead characters grow and change in important ways.

It's not perfect. Some of the situations are a bit cliche, but the strong overall structure allows these moments to slide by quickly. The production cuts some corners here and there, particularly on location shooting, but they got good bang for their buck. I highly recommend seeing this movie.

I read the positive reviews of this poor woman's version of Belle de Jour and was so saddened for those women who gushed over it. True, those reviews are 25 years old, so I can only hope that women have come to their senses since then.

This badly-acted, badly-directed, pedestrian concoction teaches women to achieve 'reaffirmation of self' ... by becoming high-end prostitutes. That's right, girls. The best way to get over your husband leaving you is to sell your body to rich men. And don't any of you fool yourselves by saying this is about sensuality, empowerment, reaffirmation of self, and all the rest of the tricks in the bag of excuses. This is simply the glorification of prostitution. And prostitution is degrading, demeaning and tawdry, never mind how well-paid or how glamorous they make it look.

If anybody is curious about why I, a woman, will have nothing to do with modern feminism watch this pitiful exhibit and read the gushing reviews. And if that does not make it clear enough it's because you are part of the problem.

This is not a story of great deeds but rather of great understanding. Joanna Scott (Linda Hamilton) is a woman whose success in her profession, writer, is matched by the failure in her personal life. With her marriage suddenly on the rocks because, as her husband Dale (Stewart Bick) puts it, "She is still the same woman I married," Joanna finds herself cast adrift in a world in which she can find no comfort. Even the opportunity to visit Paris, to interview the famous, or infamous, Madame Simone (Jacqueline Bisset), an "Arranger" of meetings between wealthy men and beautiful young women, cannot draw her back into life, and it is only her desire to flee which leads her to accept the assignment. What she finds is much different than what was expected. "Madam" Simone, though worldly as only the French seem to be, is not selling sex but illusion. Were this movie set in the last century I suspect she would be immediately recognized as a matchmaker. As would be expected, Simone's intuitive sense reveals to her Joanna's estrangement from herself, the meat of this movie being the manner in which she instills in Joanna a new sense of self. Through it all, I was struck by the genuineness of the character's reactions, even when Joanna is caught "researching" a porno. Francesco (Paolo Seganti) the photographer working with her on the article, plays his part as well by allowing her to see herself as he sees her in a series of artistic photographs. Predictably they commence an affair, which, unlike many of Hollywood's portrayals of women, Joanna ends. Joanna's subsequent return to America serves to demonstrate the effects of her transformation and her control of her own life.

Madame Simone (Jacqueline Bisset) of Paris gives a visiting American journalist Joanna Scot (Linda Hamilton) some advice on reclaiming her marriage which is on the rocks. Madama Simone who runs a high-class whorehouse has had a lot of experience with men and women and the process of falling in love. Her home-spun philosophy is that if you feel good about yourself , then others will feel good about you too. Her recipe for success in romance seems to me rather too glib and her easy success leaves no surprises and the outcome is predictable. This is the fault of the script not the actors. The actors however do have their short-comings. I found Madame Simone's strong French accent clouded her diction at times and the journalist was supposed to be wondrously transformed with a new hair-do and gorgeous gown. For me it was not a remarkable change in her appearance, but yes, her outlook on life had changed. The odd photographer who breaks into the story is quick to notice a new face(and body) at party time. The photographer makes Mrs X feel important and provides the sex mentioned in the title. Based on a true life story, the film is largely a succession of events and conversations in a woman's life, and would perhaps have greatest appeal to women audiences. If you are a man leave Mrs.X to her own problems, and don't be misled by a catchy title.